A long, long time after that - well, five days later, to be exact - the robotic puppet opened his eyes to see a bunch of other robots staring down at him. "Did it work?" asked the small chicken. Or was she a duck?

"I hope so," said the little boy holding onto a balloon string. "It would be nice to have another friend to talk to."

"Friend?" the Puppet said. He lifted a hand to his face, touching it lightly and wondering at the fact that, though he spoke clearly, his mouth didn't move.

"Oops," said the purple bunny. "Sorry. I thought I brought you back to normal, but I think I messed up with the facial programming." He slouched over, staring glumly at the floor.

"That's alright," the Puppet said, surprising everyone with how easily he sat up.

"You're lucky I found you when I did," the bigger bear in the room said. "I heard someone singing, and I love music, so I went outside to see who was there."

"You had just shut down when he brought you inside," the smaller, lighter-brown bear added.

The Puppet slid off the table and wrapped his arms around the big bear in a hug, like the children used to do to him. "Thank you, Bear," he said.

"You're welcome," he said, returning the hug. "But my name's Freddy." All the animatronics introduced themselves, and when they asked for his name, he just said he was known as the Puppet.

"Well, Puppet," the white fox known as Mangle said, "welcome to the family."

"Family?" If he could smile bigger, he would. But an oily tear did trickle down his face.

"Of course, mate," Foxy said, slapping him on the back with his normal hand. "You're one of us now."

The Puppet felt electricity shoot through his wires.

From that day on, the Puppet lived and worked at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. The animatronics found an unused box for him to spring out of and surprise the kids. None of the employees knew how he got there, but all the children loved him, so they let him be. He felt joy glow inside him as he made children laugh and squeal with delight with his tricks. He also found out that Freddy had been patrolling the restaurant at night to keep out intruders when he heard the Puppet singing outside the back door, and that he didn't mean to knock everything over when he came outside. The Puppet didn't hold a grudge. He was just happy to find a place where he belonged.

One day, when it was after hours, and moonlight poured through the glass windows in the front room, the Puppet wandered the restaurant, wondering where the others were. He turned into the party room - all the animatronics shouted, "Surprise!" They withdrew a sign that read "Congratulations" and everyone, including Cupcake, wore party hats.

Something fluttered in the Puppet's chest. "What's this for?"

Toy Freddy said, "It's March 2, 1987. Exactly one year from when we found you and Bonnie fixed you up."

"You...you remembered?"

"Of course we remembered," Mangle said, throwing an arm around him in a hug. When she let go, she rested a paw on his back, gesturing to the group with the other. "We told you you're one of us now. We won't let anything happen to you while you're part of the family."

It was a good thing his face couldn't move any more - otherwise it would have broken from how widely he'd be smiling. Everyone came together in a huge group hug, and the Puppet sang once more, his voice loud and clear:

"I have a dream

I hope will come true

That I'll never be

Far apart from you

I thank the earth, the sky, and the stars up above me

For letting me join this great family"


Epilogue

The new security guard glares at "The Mangle." He can't understand why any child could like it, it was so ugly. Half of it had been pulled out of its frame, and the rest of it was beaten up and dirty with oil and grease stains. He spits at the broken fox, kicking it over. He continues making his way to the security office.

It grows eerily silent. It only takes him a moment to realize the music box stopped. Since he has to pass by the prize counter to get to the office, he decides to duck into the room and rewind the box manually. Something creaks behind him, and when he turns around he swears he can see the lid of the big black box lifting up. His pulse quickens as he turns back to the box and twists the knob a couple times to restart it. As he exits the room, he wonders why he's letting his fancy get the better of him.

He feels something watching him. But when he glances over his shoulder, he only sees the darkened hallways of the pizza place. With a grunt, he pulls up his belt and resumes walking. Out of all possible shifts, why was he given the night one? All the rumors about this place swarm to the front of his mind, but he just frowns and shakes all those thoughts away. Finally in the office, he sits in the swivel chair, puts his feet up on the desk, folds his hands on his protruding belly. His eyes threaten to flutter shut, but before he dozes off, he figures he should at least check the cameras so he can say he actually did something on his first day working.

Keeping the flashlight and mask close by (two precautions the previous night guard recommended), he browses through all the camera screens on the computer. Everything looks fine on stage, in the party room, in the hallway -

His heart pounds when the screen shows the Puppet half out of his box in the prize room. It occurs to him then how quiet it is. Didn't he rewind the music box? Thankfully it was rigged so he could wind it up from the office. In a few seconds, he can hear the childlike melody again. He checks the other screens - but not even half a minute later the music is cut off. He checks the prize counter camera again.

The music box is broken, wires coming out of it and a couple sparks flashing. What's worse is the box is completely open, and the Puppet is gone.

His pulse quickens as he checks all the other cameras for anything else strange - he jumps when he sees the Puppet standing in one of the hallways, staring at the camera. Shuddering, the new guard curses under his breath and keeps checking the other cameras. So much for getting a good night's sleep.

When he checks another hallway, he gasps. The Puppet is staring into this camera, too. And he is coming closer to the office.

Grabbing the flashlight and the mask, the guard slips under the desk, trying to quiet his breathing and slow his heart rate. There is no way the Puppet is coming for him, right? It must be a coincidence. Maybe this is a prank another employee is doing to him. Is this how they greet new employees?

Faint metal footsteps, getting louder and louder. Something is coming closer. Beads of sweat form on his forehead as he grips the flashlight tight in his hands. He flinches when he hears someone sing, "Oh where, oh where can that night guard be? Oh where, oh where can he be? He was mean to my friend, so he'll meet his end. Oh where, oh where, can he-"

Achoo.

He curses in his mind, but all anger at himself dissipates into fear when he notices how buzzingly silent the room has gotten. He does not dare poke his head out to check the room, for fear of what he might find. Nothing happens for a while - he stifles a gasp when long, black fingers appear and curl under the desk. Quickly, he slips the Freddy mask on. Right after, a pale face appears, purple streaks coming from its eyes. "Peekaboo," the Puppet says. "I found you.

He opens his mouth to scream, but the Puppet lunges at him and everything goes black.